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I’m looking forward to the hopping!

When we planned out the Raid from the Heart activities, I tried to imagine how it would feel to take part in it, and whether it would feel “fun” to me or not.

That’s how it all came together the way it did.

Lemme ‘splain.

With the timing of this event, coming as it does right after Blizzcon, and right before the expected big content patch putting the world through a Cataclysm, I felt that it would be wonderful to take one last tour through some of the zones that we won’t be seeing in the same way ever again, in the company of a group of fellow crazy people.

Having taken part in previous runs of one kind or another, I have very strong memories of moving the camera around and seeing all these folks running along with me in a chaotic flood of rolling, tumbling kitten-like furballs.

So I’ve got this mental image of a group of silly, red shirt wearing folks all running and riding and hopping around in chaotic confusion, as we pass through some of the old school zones that will soon be transformed, with higher levels ranging ahead and to the sides to kill the ickies as the lower levels in the crew pass through unscathed.

Sadly, I can’t take any kind of credit for the idea of ending the afternoon partying to AFKAL80ETC. I was good getting to the point where we take a flying leap off a tall bridge, but I couldn’t think of how to end things.

Enter Chawa, who suggested a concert was a great idea and pointed out that the band plays in the World’s End Tavern in Shattrath.

I remembered they play in BRD, but I had completely forgotten about World’s End Tavern. Just flushed that along with ALL of my memories of Shattrath.

Now I know what they mean about “he’s forgotten more about WoW than you’ll ever know”… and it’s not a good thing. Was it worth playing a game for a year when you can’t actually remember anything at all about the experience?

Well, yes, but still.

I just love the idea of hitting the bar and jamming to the Elite Tauren Chieftain. It sounds like a blast.

And I love the mental image I get when I think about a bunch of people bouncing around Stormwind, Silvermoon or Dalaran, confusing hell out of the Trade chat trolls that act like they think the entire game revolves around them.

But most of all… I really do love the idea of a last fling with friends through a world that soon will be changed forever. While I may not remember much of my time in Outlands, anymore, I remember vividly the times I have spent with friends doing things like this, and I can’t imagine a better way to ring out the changes on the old world than with you.

In fact, one of the biggest challenges was logging in time and time again to figure out their schedule. The internet was awash with what turned out to be false info, including WoWwiki, and a query into the Blues received…. the answer that they had no bloody idea when the shows were scheduled. Or even if it’s consistent on a server.

Logging in determined that shows take place on Kael’thas-Us every two hours, on even numbered hours, and the shows alternate between the comedian and L80ETC. L80ETC plays at 2 and 6, the comedian at 4. So with our intended finish event, we were locked into certain start times.

Damn taht comedian. Although I have grown to enjoy his imitations when the sound is on.